caged heat by milly taiden

Title: Caged Heat
Author: Milly Taiden
Series: Black Meadow Pack #2
Rating: 4/5
Book Description:

After five years traveling through third world countries to teach impoverished children, Samira Suarez has returned home to Black Meadows. What Sam didn’t expect was to be instantly overwhelmed by the desire to be with the one man she’s wanted since she was a teen, Riel Karven.

Riel has been patiently waiting for Sam’s return. For five long years he’s backed off and watched her come and go. This is it. His mate is back and he’s taking a stand. Sam’s need for Ry grows to unimaginable proportions. It’s almost as if she were in heat. But she’s a human…isn’t she?

There’s more at stake than Sam and Ry’s future relationship when she inherits her grandmother’s estate. One of her many relatives wants her out of the way. It’s going to take all of Ry’s determination and help from his friends to keep her alive. And it’s going to take delving into her past to find out why a human is going into mating heat.

My Say:
I must say Sam and Riel really have a good chemistry. I love reading their passion and love. So intense, racey and I couldnt put down the stroy. Even though this is the second book in the series, I can still feel related to it and the character themselves are enough to complement the storyline. The book is very enjoyable and engaging. I totally feel connected to the story, and it is quite revealling. It is recommended!

About the Author

Milly Taiden was born in the prettiest part of the Caribbean known as the Dominican Republic. She grew up between New York, Florida and Massachusetts. Currently, she resides in New York City with her husband, bossy young son and their little dog Speedy. She began writing when she learned to put words together and her first book consisted of two homeless dogs living in a park for her second grade English class. She didn’t win a prize, but she acquired a love for writing that never went away.

When she’s not working full-time, texting with her best friend Heidi in England, chastising her son for pulling the dog’s ears, shopping with her sister Jewel or watching scary movies with her husband, she can be found writing on her laptop. She’s addicted to shoe shopping, chocolate and Dunkin Donuts coffee. A major reader when she can get her hands on a good book, she loves reading all Mina Carter, Cynthia Eden, Cynthia Sax among others.

Website: http://millytaiden.com
Twitter: @millytaiden
Facebook: Milly Taiden

the faulkner's apprentice by val muller

Title: Faulkner’s Apprentice
Author: Val Muller
Published: April 30th, 2013
Content Warning: Suggestive themes, non-graphic sexuality, and mild violence
Summary:
Lorelei Cecelia Franklin broke a twenty-year streak of bad luck when she won the L. Cameron Faulkner fiction contest. Apprenticed to the reclusive and famous author, Lorei will spend three weeks with the master of horror himself in the secluded mountains of Virginia. On her way to Faulkner's mansion, Lorei meets a leathery man who snares souls that desire too much, and everything in the mansion screams warnings against him. But with her lust for Faulkner, her appetite for fame, and her wish to protect her ailing mother, Lorei's chances for escape are slim.

My Say:
It is quite a long time since I've read such a chilling story. The Faulkner's Apprentice is actually will keep you up all night and assure you that you wont switch off your light while you're sleeping. At first I though loving dark places is such a weird and odd way to embrace creativity and inspirations. I love the character, Lorelei because she's willing to do anything to save the one she loves and achieve her dreams. It's quite a journey but I was intrigued by the storyline as well as the creativity of how the author relates the whole story and the characters. Sometimes I felt it was quite dragged a bit, but overall the story is good. I fully recommend to whoever loves horror book.

About the Author

English teacher by day, writer by night, Val grew up in cold and haunted New England, which seems to have colored her works with a tinge of the macabre. She currently lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two corgis, a rambunctious and curious dog named Leia, and a kind and obedient (yet terrified) dog named Yoda. Val writes for children and adults and, when not performing her day job as an English teacher, attends book events and elementary schools to conduct writing workshops.

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black venus by james macmanus

Title: Black Venus
Author: James MacManus
Pages: 368
Rating: 3.5/5
Book Description:
Addictive as opium the voluptuous Haitian cabaret singer Jeanne Duval tortured and inspired Charles Baudelaire to create poetry that would forever change the world of literature. Their love played out against the backdrop of 19th-century Paris in the Left Bank cafes and taverns frequented by such giants as Édouard Manet, Honoré de Balzac and Alexandre Dumas.  Reviled by Baudelaire’s family, friends and publisher, Duval was Baudelaire’s muse, leading him to create the poetry whose dark and passionate imagery forever changed and influenced modern literature.

Baudelaire was squandering his small fortune on alcohol and women when he met Duval, who he called Black Venus and claimed as his mistress. Their fiery relationship became the catalyst for his work—without her he couldn’t write a word. Ironically, Duval scorned Les Fleurs de Mal—The Flowers of Evil—the slim volume of poems she inspired that outraged French morals causing Baudelaire and his publisher to be forced into a scandalous public trial for obscenity.  What hold did she have on him that he allowed her to betray him in every possible way, driving him into debt and opium addiction even as she openly slept with his friends?

My Say:
The book is totally a jurney that I thought it would never end. So much depth in it. I was facing a quite hard time to finish the book. It started quite boring at first and slowly blooming into something I love to be in. I love the Paris setting in it. The story brought me to many lovely places that I wish I would be. Paris is just lovely and I think it's a good place for some romance story to take place. Relationship between Charles and Jean for me, is so complex. The storyline is more than just about a person, its about how the character lived and move on. Charles went through so many hardships and scandalous moments. There were times I felt the book is so flat and there's so many details like been dragged too much. Nevertheless, I love reading a new thing like a historical romance/story.

About the Author

James MacManus, who was born in London, began his career with The Guardian first as a reporter in the London office and then as a foreign correspondent in France, Africa and the Middle East. Following a position on the diplomatic staff of the Daily Telegraph in London, he joined The Times, eventually rising to Managing Editor then Managing Director of The Times Literary Supplement. In 2006 his first screenplay became the major motion picture, The Children of Huang Shi, and in 2010 his critically acclaimed first novel, Language of the Sea, made its debut.